Reader comments

Talk about a rush to judgment – it seems that no one here has yet read the Judgment. A person being gay, or saying that they are, does not mean that they must win their case. Does anyone have a link to the decision so we can read it and make an informed view? Surely these are in the Internet somewhere for us to read?

These cases are rarely reported in the mainstream media, and never in any detail, but if a number of Mr. Ayelokun’s sexual partners have testified in court that he is gay, surely that is case closed?
Ironic that in the 19th century, Oscar Wilde and others fought to prove they were NOT gay! If Mr. Ayelokun returns home, he will be in the same situation.

Robbie, I am no fan of Ms. May, but she has shown courage and wisdom in blocking the extradition of Garry McKinnon. I hope she can do likewise in this case, though I do not know the legal protocol in these cases.

Presumably not every asylum seeker fails to convince judges of their orientation. I’m intrigued about the particular problem here. I hope he comes to no harm in Nigeria but whether he’s really gay or not, his notoriety will do him no favours there. Poor man.

It all seems a bit subjective to me though, its almost like we’re saying:

“Although you’re new here and probably a bit unsure of everything and everybody, you’ve got to be r-e-a-l-l-y g-a-y. If you’re good at it you can stay, and if you’re not we’ll send you back home and hope that no one over there has found out about you trying to be r-e-a-l-l-y g-a-y while you were here”

There is something seriously wrong with this UK Border Agency. What do they expect? Do they need him to have sex with a man on camera and submit the video as evidence? This man faces real danger in Nigeria. Appalling.

Well seemingly he didn’t sleep around anywhere near enough. Perhaps we need to be clearer to people coming from these oppressive regimes – unless they can sleep with at least a couple of hundred men (ideally more), all of whom may be required to attend court and testify to that effect, they may as well not even bother to apply for asylum

I wonder how a heterosexual Nigerian female fleeing to the UK for asylum after committing adultery (stoning to death is the prescription under Sharia law) would prove her sexual orientation? What would she have to do? Have sex with one of her jailers or allow herself to be raped?

Vile disgusting decision by the Home Office. If this man dies, our government will be complicit in his death.

I think many people are trying to help them.
The problem is trying to prevent others using this as an excuse to get into the country. LGBT people need to be aware that just showing up at our front door will probably not be enough, so any information or evidence to help demonstrate their case needs to be prepared beforehand. Ideally an application should be made before arrival.

How about witness statements? Proof of persecution? Demonstration that they are at risk? You can’t just wander up and say “I’m gay, I need citizenship” otherwise every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to be turning up with the same line.

The man may well be genuine, but we need to get the message across that these people have to have a convincing argument to allow them in.

Fair enough, Spanner – and of course only genuine applicants should be allowed else it’ll be a free-for-all. But even things like proof of persecution could be falsified (eg by claiming an injury was inflicted during an ‘official’ anti-gay attack when it wasn’t). Same with witness statements.

You misunderstand my focus. I do NOT want fraudsters to be given asylum, but I’m not sure about how the Border Agency decide who’s genuine and who’s not, especially when they may be having to judge if someone’s actually gay.

Sometimes it seems genuine people are not granted asylum or made to jump through a million hoops whereas others get in (and that’s not me relying on what I read in the papers, I’m talking about claimants I know of).

And half the problem is not deporting people who shouldn’t be here (eg criminals, people entering with false documents, etc). If they sorted that out then they’d be more room for genuine claimants.

I quoted the bit that showed that the UK BA weren’t satisfied with the proof of his *sexuality* so it seems he failed at the first hurdle in that they didn’t believe he was gay. How do they judge something like that?

I understand how hard it is.
I have friends in Uganda, which is even worse.
The problem is, how do we separate the wheat from the chaff? The people genuinely in fear for their lives from the economic migrants willing to spin any old story in order to get a passport?

It is a question that I don’t have the answer to, but it is an important one to raise.

Apparantly (according to the article), Mr. Ayelokun had supporting testimony from “previous sexual partners” (plural). That is enough in itself to sign his own death warrant in parts of Nigeria. Surely that would also be cause to give him asylum.
I forecast that everyone would soon forget Mo Farah was an asylum seeker, and resume their hate campaigns. It has taken less time than I imagined.

Sorry, but this is difficult.
People ask how or why he should prove he is gay, but the problem is, if the man cannot admirably demonstrate that his life is at risk, then he should not be here.

I am sick and tired of this country being the first port of call for every waif, stray, con-artist and economic migrant claiming asylum. Most of the time, the majority of immigrants arrive having been through countless countries to get here, so why are we always the ones lumbered with these problems?

If we do not demonstrate that we have strict rules, then everyone and their uncle is going to be banging on our door claiming they are gay.

sorry to dissapoint but the uk is not ‘the first port of call for every waif, stray, con-artist and economic migrant claiming asylum’ that award goes to France, followed by Germany, then Sweden, then Belgium followed by the UK in 5th place so please get your facts straight first

In 2010, 47.3 million people lived in the EU, who were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 9.4% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3%) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2%) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million)

However, UK has by the highest population density per Km/2 (255.6) compared to either Germany (233) or France (111)

What is it going to take to get the UK Border agency and immigration judges to accept the LGBT status of refugees?

It really makes you wonder whether it is homophobia that causes these officials to conclude that witness testimony isn’t proof. I pray that Ola is okay and won’t be harrassed or persecuted. I wouldn’t hold my breath though.

The law here is now clear, following the decision of the Supreme Court, which reversed the Court of Appeal decision based on the law as it then stood (if the gay man is discreet, he can safely live in Iran!). So if he had demonstrated that he is a gay man, he had a right to stay. It seems he failed to do so. The tribunal had the privilege of having seen and weighed up the evidence – we here have not – so none of us is in a position to second guess their finding. Sneering about how he could prove his sexuality is and having to be more promiscuous etc is inane. Who (apart from the man in question) knows the truth? Not me and not any of those who have made assumptions here. He failed as a matter of evidence to convince the tribunal, and that is that. Perhaps he was not telling the truth……..